Investments key to improve education

Updated on: Monday, October 03, 2011

The president of All India Federation of University and College Teachers' Organisations (AIFUCTO), A. James William, was on a visit to Coimbatore. He spoke to The Hindu-EducationPlus on issues relating to higher education.

On quality of teachers

Quality of teachers largely depends on the recruitment process. Merit is not a consideration. It is either monetary or caste-based. Once appointments are made, there is no mechanism to train teachers. On the flip side, when the government does not appoint teachers, the management employs unqualified teachers for meagre salaries, which again puts quality of education at stake.

The Centre's moves to revitalise higher education

The recent moves of the Centre clearly show that it is increasingly favouring privatisation and centralisation of higher education. The Bills that have been introduced by Union Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sabil do not augur well for the economically-deprived student community. The trend is towards not only privatising colleges / universities, but also accrediting agencies.

On the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulations of Entry and Operations) Bill 2010

It will encourage sub-standard foreign institutions to enter India which will further commercialise Indian education. The logic is that access to education will be furthered and will add to the quality. But the performance of nearly 150 such institutions that are either franchisees or functioning in tie-up with Indian institutions, as seen from a report released by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), is not up to the mark. Their entry will neither ensure access or quality. Mr. William also opined that assessment about the real need was not made before granting permission for new colleges / courses. He said this was the main reason for a vast number of engineering, MBA, and MCA seats, going vacant during counselling to fill up government quota in colleges. The fee structure was another major deterrent.

Investments key to improve education

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